Author of Sexy, Suspenseful, and Supernatural Romance.

Not Meant to be…

December 19, 2009

You know how it happens. You don’t mean for it to happen again but you think this time won’t be like the last. It’s been a while and even though the last one left you feeling beat up and sore in muscles you forgot you even had, this one is shiny and new and you think it would look really nice in your home, in your life. You can’t resist it’s pull no matter how hard you try. You give in and take it on before the horrors of it’s predecessor can fill your mind. I’m talking, of course, about home improvement projects. Wait, what did you think I was talking about? Oh, get your mind out of the gutter! I’m a happily married woman! A good wholesome girl. *Snort* Ahem.

Now, back to the topic at hand. Well JD and I took on a project over the weekend. We decided the MOD’s should now be contained in one room and we could use D’s room as a guest/all purpose room. The saying, “It seemed like a good idea at the time” fits nicely right here. The actual assembly of the beds took only about 3 1/2 hours, 1 1/2 hours longer than any of the online reviews claimed it would. But that’s par for the course with us. Now if that’s all there was to it, no biggie right, home improvement and I are still friends. Unfortunately that’s not all there was to it. There was the cleaning out of L’s room before the beds could even be purchased, a task that was easier said than done. He wanted to keep every piece of artwork he’d ever made. You know those ambiguous pictures they first painted in preschool? I argued that one was sufficient, he did not share that opinion. Then I had to move on and clear D’s room out. My poor baby was so confused, he thought he wasn’t going to have anywhere to sleep and that we were giving away all his toys.

After the rooms had been relieved of their junk and teary eyes had been wiped, we had to go buy the beds. Since I couldn’t do this by myself, the whole family got in the car and went to the store on a Saturday, two weeks before Christmas. Oh, the joyful fun! By the time we got to the checkout I had two smashed fingers, a cardboard paper cut, and two screaming children. It gets better. In order to fit the box in the Jeep we had to move the boys’ car seats over and slide the front passenger seat all the way up. If I was two feet tall and weighed a mere 30 pounds this would not have been a problem. I’m five feet, six inches and much more than 30 pounds of woman. I barely fit in the front seat and by the time we got home my legs were asleep and I had a crick in my neck.

Carrying the box up the stairs resulted in a pulled muscle in my arm, loading the mattresses into the car was done in the pouring rain, and blisters formed on both mine and JD’s hands from using an allen key to tighten approximately 150 screws. For those of you that don’t know, there is a unique sound when a person uses an allen key: You hear a ping, a metal object flying off into the great beyond, and then a person swearing. Hopefully that will be the million dollar clue for a game show I’m on someday soon!

In the end though, the boys’ room turned out great. They love their new, big boy beds and I think sharing a room has made them even closer than before. When I go into their room in the morning they are usually chatting with each other about this or that, just like old friends. Plus, when all the holiday guests are gone I will have my own space for my writing materials. I can spread them out, pin notes up on the wall, and have a quiet space to go and write at the end of a long day. Right now all my research books are in my hidden junk drawer. Shhhh! What is a “hidden junk drawer” you ask. That’s a whole other post my friend! How about you, do you enjoy home improvement projects? Or are you with me, a project every few months is really more than you want to handle?

This reminds me of when I told myself I would never, under any circumstances, paint all the rooms in my house again. Some things just aren’t worth it.
I like to watch home improvement shows. But that’s it. I watch them. I don’t do them. You’re a brave, brave woman. Especially considering it’s right before the holidays. Wow. Hats off to you.